Dieting / immune system

LadyMarylou

This is the third time since september that i have a cold or a flu..
I wonder if my diet could be the cause of the weakening of my immune system?

I feel that for the first time i'm taking really care of myself, go to the gym, good nutrition and now i'm always sick

gregpack

I had the same problem a few months ago. I was training my butt off five or six days per week. I contracted three different upper respiratory infections within thirty days. I normally average about one a year. I suspect that Leptin issues could potentially be the problem. This is especially true if you are on a extended low carb diet.

The body needs some rest time. If you're going to the gym daily, tone it down and see if it helps. If you are on a low carb diet you may want to try a carb refeed- a day or two of high carb, low fat eating. This supposedly helps tell the body and "all is well", and boosts leptin production, keeping it out of starvation mode. That's why some people swear that one "cheat day" a week actually accelerates weight loss.

Also, the gym is full of sick people touching the same equipment you are. Wash your hands frequently

Pebble321

I find that anytime I start eating better and exercising I get sick much less often, and if that was not the case then I would stop and evaluate my diet and exercise plan to see where the problem is.

Are you eating enough? Are you exercising too much? If that's the case, maybe you need to back off and eat a little more or exercise a little less (I can't see your profile so I'm only speculating here).
Are you cutting out a whole food group that is affecting your health?

It might be worth getting some professional advice on our diet if you are getting sick.

gymshoe42

if you had the flu ... you should take time to get fully healthy again and know that it takes time. Your immune system was probably not 100% when you caught a cold .. that was me circa 2010 ..i think i was sick every couple weeks for months ... but I had a pretty good idea why ... I somehow got pneumonia and that destroyed me. After a couple weeks I thought I was better and hit the gym and pool again and within a week..got sick again. Gotta ease back in.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

If you're not undereating or overexercising-- see a doctor and get a blood test. They'll be able to tell you if something might be up with your immune system. Take care!

RoanneRed

Overtraining can impact the immune system.

LadyMarylou

Thanks a lot for the answers..
Rubybelle: i guess that my eating is ok.. i eat about 1500 cal a day (well balanced homemade meals most of the time!) and i go to the gym or zumba 3-4 times a week.
Maybe that this is only related to stress, i have so much worries in my personnal life actually

Pebble321

Yup, stress can definitely affect your physical health - so if you can't keep the stress away, then do your best with food and exercise, that might help minimise the impact of stress a little.

ninerbuff

Overtraining can impact the immune system.

This.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Teliooo

I have had the same problem but this is because I am run down. I have stopped working out for a bit. I have a 2 year old who gives me every illness imaginable. I found the more I was working out the less I was sleeping and that was making me ill. I also kept working out while I was ill. Not a good idea for me.

MaraDiaz

Overtraining can impact the immune system.

This.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Uh oh...I do have a cut on my hand that's taking its sweet time to heal.

adross3

Sugar and natural sweetners can affect the immune system. I can only have small amounts of sugar. Sugar, sugar subs and fruit lowers my resistance to colds. Do you get the shakes when you have not eaten in a while?

ak_honda

Sugar and natural sweetners can affect the immune system. I can only have small amounts of sugar. Sugar, sugar subs and fruit lowers my resistance to colds. Do you get the shakes when you have not eaten in a while?

That's interesting that fruits would lower your resistance to colds. I actually get crabby and feel like crap if I do not get enough fruits (which in return gives my body natural sugars to keep me going).

Since I started drinking green juice in the morning (starting my 3rd week) I've never felt better. I see co-workers getting sick all around me and I don't feel a thing of what they have. This is the first time in years I feel great in the winter time.

Like everyone else said, overtraining and stress can wear you down faster than anything else, and make you catch things more easily regardless of how healthy you think you might be eating. If you are a juice person, I'd try going with more organic items like Naked juices or similar, unless you can make your own juice drinks at home.

adross3

Sugar and natural sweetners can affect the immune system. I can only have small amounts of sugar. Sugar, sugar subs and fruit lowers my resistance to colds. Do you get the shakes when you have not eaten in a while?

That's interesting that fruits would lower your resistance to colds. I actually get crabby and feel like crap if I do not get enough fruits (which in return gives my body natural sugars to keep me going).

Since I started drinking green juice in the morning (starting my 3rd week) I've never felt better. I see co-workers getting sick all around me and I don't feel a thing of what they have. This is the first time in years I feel great in the winter time.

Like everyone else said, overtraining and stress can wear you down faster than anything else, and make you catch things more easily regardless of how healthy you think you might be eating. If you are a juice person, I'd try going with more organic items like Naked juices or similar, unless you can make your own juice drinks at home.

Green juice is awsome. I did that for 5 months and never felt better. Everybody is different. I am just trying to find a solution to her problem. I'm glad that you found a solution for yourself.

eponine1976

I was having this problem. Every time I started trying to do C25K I would get sick with a lung infection around week 3. I actually got pneumonia 4 times in the course of a year. I suspect now that I was overtraining and that the C25K program was progressing faster than my body was adapting.

I recently read that one of the ways you can tell if you are overtraining and need an extra rest day is to take your pulse every morning before getting out of bed. Find out what your average pulse runs over the course of a week or two. If your pulse suddenly jumps 5% over what is normal for you then you need to take a rest day. I plan to try this out just as soon as I've had my baby and am cleared to start exercising again and I'm hoping that using this method that this time I can start a running program without getting really sick because I will be letting my body tell me when I need to rest and when I'm okay to exercise. You're also supposed to not increase time/mileage by more than 10% a week.

TrainingWithTonya

Intense exercise can decrease immunity so I would check the intensity of your workouts first. Also, for nutritionally shoring up the immune system, make sure you are getting the RDA of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Zinc.